The Underlings
by everyl1ttleth1ng
Summary: Dr Leo Fitz and Dr Jemma Simmons from the perspective of their employees in the S.H.I.E.L.D. laboratories.
1. Chapter 1

_What happens after Fitz yells at a well-meaning S.H.I.E.L.D. employee._

* * *

"Nguyen," Müller hissed. "Is it just my imagination or is that Hernandez crying into his samples over there in the corner?"

Smirnov sidled over from behind her microscope. "He _is_ crying," she whispered. "Dr Fitz _shouted_ at him. Called him an idiot."

Müller sucked in a surprised breath. "Dr Fitz? I'd heard he could be grumpy but I've only ever seen him being impressively patient. I mean, can you imagine having to deal with ordinary people when you're carrying around a brain like his?"

Nguyen pulled himself up to his full height. "Right. I'm the closest man. I'm going to take Hernandez a cup of tea and see if he wants to talk about it."

His three colleagues exchanged precious-cinnabun glances behind his lab-coated back as he strode towards the kitchenette - a man on a mission.

Before he managed to attain his target, Li and Smith sprinted into the lab.

"You guys!" Li shouted. "We just saw Dr Fitz and Dr Simmons kiss!"

"Twice!" added Smith breathlessly.

Müller and Smith went up for a high-five. Smirnov looked jealous. Nguyen shook his head and pulled out his wallet to cough up. Even Hernandez wiped at his face and wandered tentatively in their direction.

"Come on!" Müller flapped her wrists. "Details!"

"We were just walking past on our way to the mess," Smith began. "And there was all this shouting - poetic stuff, which is unusual for the lab - so we peeked our heads in the door."

"Poetic stuff?" Smirnov echoed.

"You know," said Li, looking to Smith for help, "We don't have the courage to talk about it, there was some mention of the cosmos, err…"

"Far-flung planets, war on an aircraft carrier, the bottom of the ocean, certain death - that sort of thing," Smith added.

"And then he just grabbed her!"

"Hang on," Smirnov interrupted. " _He_ grabbed _her_?"

"Yeah!" Smith enthused. "I didn't think Dr Fitz had it in him!"

"What did she do?" Hernandez asked, taking another step closer. "Did she kiss him?"

"Not at first," said Li, "but after a second she grabbed him right back!"

"Let me guess, now, at long last, they're sequestered in Dr Simmons bunk with a BioHazard warning stuck on the door?" snickered Müller.

"Nope," said Li sadly. "That was when it got weird. Coz he had kissed her, right? And it was angry and passionate and, you know, hot! And so when she kissed him back, we looked at each other, didn't we, Smith, and we were like, IT'S ON! The S.H.I.E.L.D. Science Division is officially on hiatus while these bunnies, you know, go off and be bunnies!"

"But instead of just picking her up and carrying her to his bunk," Smith took up the tale, "Like I would have done if Dr Simmons ever kissed me like that…"  
All the women rolled their eyes.

"…he just says, all melodramatically, 'We're cursed!' and goes to walk away from her."  
Confused glances were exchanged across the lab.

"And then she noticed something in some book on the floor and they started talking about that instead and then I think they went to the photocopier or something."

"The photocopier?" whined Müller. "That's a bit of an anticlimax."  
Nguyen shook his head. "How long have we been hearing rumours about those two?"

"Since the very first moment we heard their names," Hernandez said softly. "And now he thinks they're cursed."

"Not very scientific of him, is it?" mused Li.

"Knock, knock." A distinctive Scottish accent resounded through the lab. "Sorry to interrupt your meetin' but can I just borrow Hernandez a moment?"

The man's eyes went wide and he rushed out of the lab.

"Did you see Dr Fitz's face?" Smirnov whispered.

"He looks wrecked," Nguyen agreed.

Müller placed both hands over her heart. "Oh, that poor man. I will never forget his haggard desperation while he searched for Dr Simmons. I didn't imagine I'd ever see him looking that beaten down again."

…

Emmanuel Hernandez had idolised Dr Leo Fitz since the moment he first held a Magic Window in his hands. He was clumsy and sensitive and a loner and a visionary and he'd always thought the man would be a kindred spirit. He was the same age as Fitz but had taken triple the time to complete his education. Hernandez was smart, Fitz was a virtuoso.

When he'd learned he was going to have the opportunity to work for his hero he had organised a lavish celebration dinner for his extensive Spanish family. They had danced late into the night, raising toast after toast and Hernandez didn't touch a drop of alcohol for at least a year after the event due to the staggering horror of the next morning's hangover.

He'd never expected to hear Fitz actually say his name. He didn't even think that he knew it.  
That didn't stop it from hurting like hell when he'd called him an idiot.

…

Hernandez stepped cautiously into the dim light of the corridor.

"I'm s-so sorry about the books, sir," he stammered. "If any of them were damaged I take full responsibility. Perhaps we could organise some sort of payment plan?"

Fitz shook his head. "The books are fine, Hernandez. And it's me who should be apologisin' to you." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I've just… got a lot goin' on. But that is no excuse for what I said to you. I'm sorry."

Hernandez held out his hand.

Fitz looked at it a moment as if in confusion, his blue eyes gradually meeting Hernandez's sympathetic gaze, before he jolted himself into response.

"I'll admit, sir. "I've always wanted to shake your hand," Hernandez laughed. "Working for you is probably the greatest thing I'll do in my career. Thank you so much for the opportunity."

Fitz shrugged awkwardly. "Well, I turn out to be boss of the century, don't I?"

"You do, sir," Hernandez nodded earnestly. "Please don't think what happened earlier diminishes that in any way."

Fitz nodded. "Thank you, Hernandez." He turned to go.

"Dr Fitz?"

"Mmm?"

"Is… um… is there anything I can do for you?"

Fitz laughed humourlessly. "I don't think so, Hernandez, but thanks for offerin'. Right now it's sort of me against the cosmos."

"Sounds complicated."

Fitz sighed heavily. "You have _no_ idea."


	2. Chapter 2

_I woke up with the idea for this story in my head but then I realised I probably stole some of my inspiration from jemmaswan and her lovely fic your heart is your masterpiece (and I'll keep it safe) here on AO3_

* * *

Smirnov had been in the lab for hours. Everything was taking at least twice as long as it should have. On top of that, it was quiet in a way that the Playground never managed to be quiet. It was the nervous quiet of good agents, the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D., missing.

Her simulations kept hitting dead ends. When she'd scan back through the code she'd find simple mistakes. She was tired. She was hungry. She was terrified. None of those factors enhanced her attention to detail.

She typed 'run' once more and sat back, closing her eyes, thankful that the fluorescent light above her had finally stopped flickering and gone dark.

She couldn't have been asleep for more than a minute, could she? But there was muttering and slow footsteps. She peaked from around her screen to see Dr Fitz and Dr Simmons walking slowly, arm-in-arm, into the lab. She ducked back behind her screen and, glancing at the code, noticed that the bloody thing was up and running at last. Everything seemed to be going right for once.

The hiss of escaped air caught Smirnov's attention and she peeked once more around her screen. Dr Simmons had opened the sliding door to the med bay and was guiding Fitz towards the bed.

"You have to let me see, Fitz," she urged him. "Coulson thinks you might have some broken ribs."

"I guess it's not every day a man goes head-to-head with something that calls itself Death and lives to tell the tale," Dr Fitz replied, begrudgingly following Dr Simmons' motioned instructions and sitting on the bed.

His eyes widened as Dr Simmons started unbuttoning his blood-stained shirt. He placed his hands gently over hers to still them. "Jemma," he said quietly. "Let me do it."

Smirnov thought the odd look in Dr Simmons' eyes might have been hurt, but she dutifully pulled away, turning her back on him to pull out some medical supplies.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she whispered, just loud enough for Smirnov to hear.

"Jemma," Dr Fitz replied, "You have nothing to apologise for. I made my choice."

"Choice after choice you made for _me_ , Fitz." She spun round as she spoke, just in time to watch him gingerly pulling his shirt over his bare shoulders. He hissed in pain.

In only a moment she was right in front of him, standing between his knees, her fingers grazing tenderly over the black and purple bruises blooming across his torso.

Smirnov watched as Dr Fitz reached forward and gently lifted his partner's chin with two fingers, raising her eyes to his. As her face tipped up towards the light she could see the tears streaming down Dr Simmons' face.

"Fitz," she whispered. "How could I have let this happen?"

He slid his arms around her and pulled her in closer. Smirnov watched as Dr Simmons nestled her face into Dr Fitz's shoulder, saw her silvery tears roll over the ominous welts and contusions on his bare back.

"Shh, Jemma. This isn't on you. This is on HYDRA."

"But if it hadn't been for Will-"

"If it hadn't been for Will," Fitz interrupted, "you would never have survived on Maveth as long as you did. There would have been nothing left of you for me to bring home."

"But if I hadn't been so insistent on bringing him back," she said, pulling away from his embrace.

Dr Fitz sighed. "Then you and I would never have done all of that essential preparation, would we? I never would have had the data I needed to persist and find my way back to the portal. I never would have been able to tell you that Will loved you so much, he gave his life helping you escape from Maveth."

Dr Simmons laughed wildly. "Fitz, you give your life for me all the time! Not one minute seems to go by that you're not callously sacrificing yourself for me!"

He scoffed. "Well, Jemma, I guess you just have to add my name to the long list of blokes who are so bloody in love with you that we can't bloody well help ourselves, alright? So far the only thing I have going for me is that despite my best efforts, I haven't actually managed to pull it off."

Dr Simmons took up a bandage and ducked forward to run it around his back. "It sort of sounds like you resent the fact that thus far none of your attempts have led to your actual death," she muttered, yanking the bandage hard around his ribs.

Dr Fitz cried out in pain. "There's no need to rectify that right this minute is there, Jemma? I know you're angry at me for failing to rescue Will, but can't we fight this out when I've at least had a little bit of time to recover?"

Smirnov watched on as Dr Simmons' movements with the bandage stuttered to a halt. She let the white fabric fall out of her hands, dropping into loose coils around Dr Fitz's waist.

"Jemma?" he asked, his hands instinctively reaching for her shoulders. "What is it?"

She shook her head. "After all this time."

"What?"

"You don't believe that I'm in love with you, do you?" There was a note of challenge in Dr Simmons' tone.

Dr Fitz sighed. "I know you love me, Jemma. I know I'm your best friend."

She shrugged out of his grasp and took a step back. "What did you think would happen if you _had_ brought Will back to Earth?"

"Ask Coulson," Fitz replied, avoiding her gaze. "He's had my transfer application on his desk for weeks."

Dr Simmons' eyes grew wide. "You were going to leave?"

Dr Fitz nodded. "I was going to let you and Will be together. Coulson was going to send me off to build some more planes for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"And you think that's what I would have wanted?" she asked incredulously.

He was quiet for a moment before answering. "Does it matter now, Jemma? Will's gone. I'm not going anywhere. I wouldn't leave you alone."

"It matters," Dr Simmons insisted. "It matters to me that you believe I would have wanted to be with Will. It matters because when I kiss you in a minute, you're going to think of yourself as my consolation prize."

Dr Fitz suddenly grinned. "You're going to kiss me in a minute?"

"That all depends," replied Dr Simmons airily. "You're going to have to be convincing."

Smirnov almost laughed aloud at the confusion still patently written across her genius boss' features.

"Repeat after me," said Dr Simmons. "Jemma loves me."

His grin returned. "Jemma loves me."

"She has _always_ loved me."

"She has always loved me."

Dr Simmons placed a hand on each of his knees. "And there is no other man anywhere in the universe…"

"And there is no other man anywhere in the universe…"

"That Jemma would want to spend the rest of her life with."

Dr Fitz's grin grew broader that Smirnov had ever seen it. "You want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Dr Simmons nodded. " _This_ is where we kiss."

"Okay," Dr Fitz agreed happily.

She slid her hands up over his thighs, stepping in closer so that she could wind them around his waist.

Dr Fitz's hands gently cupped her face, his thumb stroking gently across her cheek. He leaned forward and first placed a soft kiss over the angry cut on her cheekbone.

"Is that all you've got to show for what they did to you?" he asked quietly.

Dr Simmons shook her head.

"You finish tending to me and then I'll tend to you, okay?"

"Kisses first though, right?" she whispered. "And after?"

Dr Fitz nodded. "They're all part of it."

Dr Simmons smiled.

Then sliding his fingers back into the hair that was falling loose from her ponytail, he softly, sweetly captured her lips with his.

Smirnov had to bite back a sigh. She'd always been sure he would be a great kisser.

She pulled out her phone and tapped out a quick text to the other lab technicians.

 _Do I have a story for you! Nguyen get beers!_


End file.
